Advocacy Resources

8 Practical Tips for Communicating with Congress

Open Doors is involved in several advocacy campaigns each year. Some campaigns involve contacting members of Congress regarding international religious freedom issues and/or legislation. We usually provide a sample letter that you can easily personalize. Here are a few communication tips for contacting members of Congress about religious freedom issues:

Be respectful and courteous.

Identify yourself as a Constituent. If you cannot be recognized as a constituent, your communication is likely to be ignored.

For members of the Senate, address your letter to Dear Senator Last Name. For members of The House of Representatives, address your letter to Dear Congressman/Congresswoman Last Name or Dear Representative Last Name.

Know your issue. If you are writing in reference to a particular bill, refer to the measure’s House or Senate bill number and/or title.

Keep your comments brief and to the point. Cover only one issue per letter. Utilize our website as a resource, but do not mention Open Doors in your email.

Don’t forget to send an appreciative note to your member of Congress when they take action on an issue related to religious freedom. For example:”Hello, my name is Scott Jones, and I am a constituent of (name of senator or representative). I am calling today to urge them to support/oppose HR 1234. Thank you.”

When making a call to your member of Congress, the first thing you need to do is state your name to the staff member and mention you are a constituent of the legislator. Then describe the purpose of your call.